Split for Hacker News

Help and bug reports

Split for Hacker News Support

Start with the browser version, page eligibility, and the exact status shown in the popup. Most lookup and side-panel problems can be narrowed down without sharing private browsing information.

Quick diagnosis

Check these six things first

  1. 1

    Confirm you are using Google Chrome 140 or newer.

  2. 2

    Confirm Split for Hacker News is enabled at chrome://extensions.

  3. 3

    Try a public http:// or https:// article rather than a browser, local, private, or sign-in page.

  4. 4

    Open the extension popup again after the article finishes navigating.

  5. 5

    If the side panel is blank, confirm the same Hacker News discussion opens in a regular tab.

  6. 6

    Check the extension version and visible status message before reporting the problem.

Troubleshooting by symptom

What the status usually means

No Hacker News discussion was found

Matching is based on exact normalized URLs, not similar titles. The article may not be on Hacker News, or the submission may point to an original source, mirror, older edition, or different canonical URL. See the finding guide for practical alternatives.

The page is not eligible for lookup

The extension accepts public HTTP and HTTPS article URLs. It rejects local and private networks, special-use names, embedded credentials, and query strings that appear to contain authentication or signing secrets. Browser pages such as chrome:// are not article pages.

The Hacker News side panel is blank or fails to load

Open the same discussion in a normal tab to confirm Hacker News is reachable, then close and reopen the panel. The panel loads the real Hacker News site and depends on a temporary sub-frame header rule; browser policy or another extension can affect that request. Include those details in a report if the tab works but the panel does not.

The toolbar does not show a comment-count badge

Automatic availability badges are off by default. Enable them on the extension’s Options page if you want eligible public tab URLs checked during navigation. Manual popup lookups work without this option.

Clicking an article on Hacker News does not open comments beside it

This shortcut is also off by default. Enable the Hacker News article-click option, then click a story title on news.ycombinator.com. It applies only to Hacker News story links and can be disabled at any time.

Open in Split replaced the page in my current tab

This is the current context-menu behavior: after you explicitly select Open in Split, the chosen link loads in the tab where you clicked it and its discussion opens beside that article. Use the toolbar popup on an already-open article if you do not want to navigate the source tab.

Useful reports get fixed faster

Include a safe, reproducible example

Never post a private URL, access token, signed link, account detail, or full browser profile. A public article or another minimal example is enough.

Environment
Chrome version, operating system, and Split for Hacker News version.
Reproduction
Exact safe steps, expected result, actual result, and whether you used the popup, side panel, or context menu.
Visible status
The complete popup or panel message and whether the same discussion works in a normal Hacker News tab.

Contact

Choose the right channel

Public bugs and features

Open a GitHub issue ↗

Best for reproducible defects, compatibility reports, and feature requests without private information.

Privacy and sensitive contact

Email me@maximtop.dev

Use email for privacy questions or a concern that should not be posted publicly.

Need a clean reinstall?

Install the current public build from the Chrome Web Store. Google Chrome 140 or newer is required.

Open the Chrome Web Store ↗